The Tour of Britain will visit the Isle of Wight for the first time in 2022, it was announced Saturday morning, with the 2020 edition of the race being rescheduled for next year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 edition, which is scheduled for September.

The 2022 race will finish on this island off the south coast of England, which has finished in London 11 of the 16 times since the race resumed in 2004, but has finished in Cardiff and Manchester in recent years, with the 2021 race scheduled to finish in Aberdeen. The 2021 race is scheduled to finish in Aberdeen.

The news of this announcement was announced at a ceremony in the island town of Ryde. At this ceremony, the third edition of "The Great Tour" (open in new tab), which will run for 64 days and 6,700 km, was also announced.

"This is a great opportunity to showcase the island's stunning scenery to an international audience, attracting spectators from local and far-flung areas to enjoy world-class cycling," said Dave Stewart, Isle of Wight Council leader.

"Just as the Isle of Wight is synonymous with sailing, with the Tour of Britain and other exciting cycling events planned, we hope it will become a mecca for cycling in general."

Despite title sponsor OVO Energy ending its three-year partnership with the race and the Women's Tour in November 2019, future hosting of the race is still planned. However, race organizer SweetSpot later confirmed that the race is not dependent on the sponsor and will continue to host future events as planned.

"Despite the events of this summer, the fact that we are working with our partners and planning routes for 2021, 2022, and beyond shows that the Tour of Britain will continue to thrive despite adversity," SweetSpot's Managing Director Hugh Roberts said. We hope that this news will encourage more people and organizations than ever before to support and boost the national Tour in order to achieve our goal of making the Tour of Britain the largest stage race outside the three Grand Tours by the end of the decade"

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." This is just the beginning of our relationship with the Isle of Wight, and through events like today's start of the 64-day Great Tour Ride, we will work with Isle of Wight Council and partners to put the island firmly on the cycling map and help people "ride the isle" in the 2020s.

The next edition of the Tour of Britain will take place in September 2021 and will follow the route planned for 2020, starting in Cornwall on September 5, traveling through Exeter, Warrington and Cumbria, and finishing in Aberdeen, Scotland, on September 12.

Dutchman Mathieu van der Pol won the Tour of Britain last September. He won three stages in his debut race, 17 seconds ahead of Alpecin Phoenix's Matteo Trentin.